Arlo Pro 2 Base Station issues with USB drive where not able to view files

[Imlug5264]

I am having issues using the USB drive, when I remove drive from Base station by ejecting and connecting to my Laptop USB port I cant see the drive at all.  I have no way of viewing the files.  How could I fix this issue

[jguerdat]

It could be a bad drive or a bad port on the computer. Not being able to see the drive on the computer at all is the root problem. Try a diffewerent port on the computer. Also try a different thumb drive to ensure that the computer is working properly.

[Imlug5264]

This is a brand new 2TB External Drive, not USB thumb drive, could this be the issue.  The ports work fine and this drive works fine when I used it on my laptop.  It has something to do with the formatting of the drive by Arlo Base Station.  Could I format on my laptop and than place on Arlo Base station.  Why does it format to FAT32?

I am pretty Computer savoy as I am triple CCIE if you kow what is and been this for alng time.

[jguerdat]

I'm retired IT and have been for a long time, too.  🙂

FAT32 is used as a lowest common denominator. You say the drive isn't seen on your computer but then say it used to work. What OS? In Windows, have you checked the drive in Computer Management, Sorage, Disk Manager to see what it sees?  It may be work formatting the drive on the computer but you may need a 3rd party program to format 2TB in FAT32.

BTW, 2TB is gross overkill for this application. It would likely store years' worth of videos. I use a 16GB thumb drive and it stores 2-4 months with no problem.

[Imlug5264]

I have tons of drives lying around and does not bother me.

No i have not looked in the Device Managers, the device in my Mom Condo and I am not on premise all the time.  I have to check next time I am there.  Maybe I will try and thumb drive.

Quick quetion, does it write to USB drive all the time so I should more than the 7 days in the tool?

Thanks for assistance

[jguerdat]

It will record all recordings that go to the cloud (not 24/7) and retain them regardless of your plan which affects only your cloud recordings.